{ In Her Light }

Slept in late today. Internet wasn’t working. Oh well! I’ll have to wait to post the blog. Grabbed some java and made it in time to Jocelyn’s workshop to watch her demonstrate an exercise called “Waiting for the Authentic Moment”.

Ah....perfect timing. I needed to witness this, in the moment of my frantic and ‘not going as planned’ morning. As I watched, Jocelyn inhaled, stood gracefully in her hoop, waited until the inspiration arose, and then danced in flow complete with punctuation to a song that will always remind me of her since I saw her perform to it at Hoop Camp years ago. The lyrics say “Taking my time, taking my time, taking control of the elements.” Her dance, and the dance to which she invited the students of this Hoop Yogini Alchemy and Flow session, was sweet and authentic. Sensual and in tune with the elements of the space, body and collective flow. “The Authentic Moment” arises when it arises. I woke up this morning when my body authentically needed to, not when I felt like I needed to be up to write at 5:30AM. My blog will be posted in the most authentic moment possible, when the internet authentically works, haha. This is really what going with the Flow is all about. Today is the last full day of Week One Sacred Circularities Hoop Dance Meditation Retreat. Today will reveal the most authentic moments of the week as we witness instructors Babz, Tiana and Caterina go ‘In Depth’. These ‘In Depth’ sessions are a showcase of the inner workings, deeper practices, personal stories and backgrounds of these beautiful women who have inspired us so deeply throughout the week. I am looking forward to peaking beneath the surface of the lovely hoop legends lives, and enjoying the last full day of this amazing week.

Babz Robinson was the first In Depth experience. From the Great White North of Canada, she is a well traveled hooper, and a rock climber. She loves home! Something I admire about Babz that I can resonate with deeply is that she does not watch YouTube videos to learn or gawk. Neither do I! She says she doesn’t want it to affect her style. I totally get that. I really appreciated Babz sharing herself with us in a sweet and open way. Thanks for leaving home to come play with us in Bali, Babz!

Tiana Zoumer was next, gracing us with her innocent, heart felt tears and a tale that told all a story we could all relate to. Many of us had experienced something Tiana endured in the beginning of her journey, a lack of self love. It’s hard to imagine our hoop idols being anything but happy and hooping all the day long, but the reality of life is this: we create to help heal our pain. Tiana stated “we dance to heal”. It’s true. We emoted with her and were inspired by her as we listened and learned deeper about the life that created this genuine hoop legend, a prodigy of practice, a ring master for sure. Thanks for bearing your soul to us, T.

Caterina Suttin sat center stage next, and blessed us with a beautiful ball of light as she practiced for us to witness her devotion. She told us her story of riding the waves of inspiration to injury, healing to being humbled, making it and breaking it, and everything in between. She also got real about the psychological effects of being a ‘hoop celebrity’, so to speak, and the mental experience that ‘the attention’ can bring. Between Babz, Tiana and Caterina sharing with us their authentic experiences I feel like the retreat came to an intimate and transparent climax of the actualization of this years theme: Realization. As a group we realized that these teachers are just people, accessible and open, raw and vulnerable. Our friends. Our sisters. Our equals. Yes, our greatest inspirations, too! I am looking forward to taking the role of teacher in Weeks Two and Three, and these AMAZING trail-blazers have shown me such a beautiful and shining example!

After the day was done I had a very sweet private session with Shilpa who had so many epic breakthroughs in her hoop practice. It is amazing to witness someone ‘get it’ for the first time and literally jump up and down screaming in joy. It helps me remember why I am doing this in first place. I love helping women feel totally empowered in their bodies, minds, spirits and TALENTS. We are all so different and private lessons give me a wonderful opportunity to experience the different way different hoopers learn. Teaching is literally my favorite thing in the world to do for myself, and for others.

After our lesson we joined the rest of the group at Clear Cafe for a delicious ‘last supper’. There was a lovely view of the sky and the lightening was flashing intermittently in the darkness. Between the faces of my friends, and the flashing of the lightening, I literally felt “lit up”. This has been such a profound week, and I feel grateful beyond description, really. Tomorrow is the Closing Circle, but truly this is just the beginning. This is really my life! The life that this community has created together. What a beautiful community we have all co-created. This Sacred Circle is always open, never broken.